JPS58162372A - Device and method of printing address of envelope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a xerographic printing device for printing addresses on envelopes and a method for printing addresses using this device.

Automated envelope addressing methods have been known for some time.

However, as the number of envelopes to be addressed increases, there is a desire to improve this method. In small businesses, letter mailing is most economically accomplished by tight writers and skilled secretaries. However, when mailing thousands of letters, it is time consuming and costly to use automatic envelope addressing.

One of the traditional address writing methods is
First, a series of nine mailing addresses are printed on separate labels and the labels are then applied to the package or envelope to be mailed.

For example, U.S. Patent No. J, A4L7. US Pat. No. 3,607, 7,60a discloses a labeling machine for the purpose of applying labels to a large number of articles. The finished labels are produced separately by label printing equipment, which printing equipment is, for example, US% Pestle J, At/, 41-! It consists of the apparatus disclosed in No. J. This US Patent No. J,tt/, H3 is directed to a label printing apparatus in which a lapel printer electrostatically prints continuous label strips from individual master address cards in the fold #. The finished label strips are then processed according to the above-mentioned US Patent No. 3,6 Tei 7. Used by the device disclosed in the tθ- issue,
This is how the address writing process is normally completed. US% allowance *,? When using an electrostatic label printer such as the one described in No. 4163 to 4A,
In order to be able to copy the address onto a label, it is first necessary to print the address information in a xerographically recognizable format, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,44/4tJJ. , #'iUsually, tie the address information to the white or light colored cart 9! The card is then xerographically copied according to well-known xerographic techniques.

While it is true that the above conventional method is much faster than printing all the address information individually on the item to be mailed,
Depending on the application, it may not be the most efficient mailing method. In order to xerographically copy address information onto individual labels, each time a different address is copied onto the label, a different xerographically recognizable driver is typed or stamped for use by the device described above. - It is necessary to print.

Furthermore, any label printing device requires additional stages. That is, it requires a label to be applied to the document or package before mailing.

When the item to be mailed is a large package or an irregularly shaped item, using top conventional equipment is the most effective method for addressing the item. However, for regularly shaped articles such as envelopes, it is advisable to avoid the above-mentioned limitations associated with the use of label printing devices.

ib's IBM In:Pjet printer has envelope printing capabilities. This printer has an envelope horn and an envelope feeder, and the feeder has an intermediate label mark J.
iii When printing directly on envelopes without Ij, send the unprinted envelopes to the inkjet station. but,
This printer does not have graphics printing capabilities and therefore includes a separate primary device for handling envelopes. This IBM inkjet printing method provides an advantage over electronically storing address data, compared to creating a mask image for each letter printed on a single envelope. It will be done.

Briefly described, the present invention is a book that eliminates the need for affixing mailing labels to each item to be mailed, and that eliminates the need to individually type-print address information. It increases the flexibility of information. The present invention provides an automated method and apparatus for stamping address information on paper.6 The present technique is applicable to large packages and/or irregularly shaped items. Therefore, it is preferable to use the conventional addressing method for these items.

In the present invention, a xerographic printing device is used to print address information on standard size envelopes. The xerographic printing device has a mechanism for holding unprinted envelopes prior to printing. The printing device It furthermore has a sensor for distinguishing the presence of envelopes and other materials to be printed by the printing device. When an envelope is sensed, the printing device I/l enters a so-called operating mode for envelope printing.

In this mode, the printing device transports the envelope from the holding stage to a transfer station where a xerographically created powder image of the address is transferred to the moving envelope. After this transfer step, the addressing information is stamped onto the envelopes, which are then stacked at the output station of the xerographic printing device.

In principle, the address information is
．． /, 953, in a manner similar to that disclosed in
It can be extracted from the mask input type, but
A preferred method for generating the address information is to use addresses that are stored electronically in the control operation of an automatic encoder, for example with a Redebrink.

The practice of the present invention eliminates the need for typed, preprinted, or xerographically produced labels to be applied to seals and tubes. Furthermore, the use of electronically stored address information in combination with Redebrink greatly increases the flexibility of the device since it eliminates the need to print and/or type masks or originals. I can car. The use of electronically stored masks in conjunction with high-definition graphics allows for other information, such as postage stamps, for example.
You can print on envelopes at the same time as printing address information.

The present invention seeks to modify conventional xerographic printing devices for use in envelope printing. %,
The mechanism for holding unprinted envelopes preferably includes a suitably designed cassette holder that accurately positions the unprinted envelopes within a typical reproduction machine tray.

Therefore, there is no need for a separate secondary device for envelope printing. However, when printing envelopes, it is necessary to take into account the increased thickness of the envelope due to the envelope's multilayer structure and adjust the operating characteristics of the copying device. Therefore, if information is printed directly on the envelope instead of first printing on a label and then affixing the label to the envelope, the fusing and transfer characteristics of the xerography process must be changed. is necessary.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to print the address and/or other information directly onto a regular size envelope without the need to first create a mailing label to apply to the envelope. Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the information processing station IO,
The station includes a terminal device 12 located next to a module 14 having disk storage and information processing equipment connected to a xerographic printing device 16.

Printing equipment 16 is housed within housing 18 to give processing station 10 an aesthetic appearance. A portion of the above figure has been cut away to show the location of the word processing station of printing device 16.

The printing device 16 has its own geographic device or control device or control device 20 and interacts with the processing device in the wrinkle control scissors l1IFi earth science module 14 or #'i''
It is possible to operate in a stand-alone mode to control the operation of the printing device. The printing device 16 includes a front paper feeder fl122. There is a user interface 24, a printing photoreceptor 26 (FIG. 1), and a delivery stage 28. The printing device [16] may be used to create a hard copy depicting information that a user enters via the terminal device 12, or alternatively. Hard copies of other information generated via some other information source (eg, magnetic tape) can be made when commanded by controller 20. The control unit [20 may or may not format the data according to the user's requirements.

The format can be controlled by the user via the terminal device 12. Xerox Model I 40 (Xmrox
The Mod@l Els word processing station includes a terminal 12 and a module 14, and also includes a modified (as described below) Xerox 5700 M (Xsr
ox Model jri00) The printing device includes a printing device 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printing device 16 defines a paper path 30 from the main paper tray or input device 1132 or the auxiliary paper tray or input device 34 to the printing photoreceptor 26. As the paper passes the photoreceptor 26, xerographic powder is transferred from the wrinkled photoreceptor to the paper. The image-bearing paper is peeled from the photoreceptor and advanced past a motion sensor 35 to a radiant wave fuser 36. The fuser member 36 is a substantially permanent version of the powder image, and the fused sheet is sent to a delivery station 28. As shown in Fig. 1, this delivery station is set to a sorter 40 or a delivery tray 41 (Fig. 7).
It is equipped with

The xerographic image formatted by the control unit 2 (HE) is a zero rotation polygon applied to the xerographic photoreceptor 26 in the usual manner using a rask output scan (RO8) performed by the radar 42. ?Ra (not shown)
The Lede beam reflected from the photoreceptor exposes the photoreceptor, selectively discharging the charged photoconductive surface and producing WIgI! corresponding to the desired information pattern. is made on the photoreceptor.

The radar 42 is turned on and off under control of the controller 20 so that the desired information pattern appears on the photoreceptor. After forming the latent layer, the photoreceptor rotates clockwise and passes through the development area 4.

In this region, the latent image created by the above-mentioned radar becomes a visible image with the toner powder. This step is carried out by a co-component magnetic flux generator.

The photoreceptor and associated powder image are then rotated to a transfer area 46 where the powder image is transferred from the photoreceptor to the copy sheet as the copy sheet is moved in image transfer relation to the photoreceptor 26. Transferred to sheet. As is well known in the industry, transfer of the powder image from the photoreceptor to the copy sheet is facilitated by a transfer corotron 48 biased to a w1 pressure that attracts the charged toner particles from the photoreceptor to the copy sheet. It will be held in During image transfer, the photoreceptor rotates past a peeling corotron 50 that facilitates peeling the sheet from the photoreceptor 26. The parts of the photoreceptor that remain charged are discharged by a discharge corotron 51, and then the photoreceptor is cleaned by a blade 52. The xerographic photoreceptor is recharged by a charging coroton 54 and then a xerographic cavity is formed by a radar 42 and RO8 device.

The printing device 16 disclosed above has been modified to provide envelope printing capabilities not yet known to the industry. This envelope printing is done in three separate applications. A seventh application is the printing of envelopes from a variable list of addresses and names generated by one of the controllers, namely Modinir 14 and 2o. These envelopes are then combined with letters printed from the same list of addresses and names as above, so that the user can print various letters and letters from the same list of addresses and names. can be printed.

The first application is to print only a number of envelopes from a variable address name list. This application is applied when the letter to be mailed in an envelope does not have the addressee's name written on it (i.e., a letter or flyer that begins with just the word "Dear Sir or Madam"); This is a case where there is no need to create a variable address name list.

A third application is to allow the user to print on as many envelopes as he or she wants.

In this application form, the user can specify the items to be printed on the envelope, just as in the above one form. The desired items include (1) return address, (2) company name type, and (3) stamp for prepaid first-class mail (this will be processed internally as a mail order). ), (4) the mailing address (i.e., the address to which the letter should be sent), and (5) the address note written in the lower left corner of the envelope when the letter is sent to the person or department in the primary mailing address.

In the first two application forms above, the above matter (4)
The primary mailing address is printed from a variable address name list, and in the third application form, the same mailing address may be printed on all envelopes. An example of this application is when a branch office sends a considerable amount of mail to a single mailing address at the head office location.

In addition to the above, what needs to be explained is how the request to print on an envelope is communicated to the printing device 16, and how the printing is performed. Regarding this first point, a sensor 60 (FIG. 3) mounted on the main paper tray 32 dynamically detects the presence of an envelope cassette 62 in said tray. must be inserted into the main tray by the user). Another method of informing the printing device 16 of a desire to process an envelope requires the user to provide input to the control knob or user interface 24. The illustrated device uses a combination of both methods. The user is presented with a simple selection early in the conversation with the control armpit 24 to indicate a desire to print envelopes. If the user selects this state, a message will appear informing him (A) that the output tray should be emptied the ninth time to make room for the paper to be removed; (B) that the paper should be auxiliary fed, if desired; What should be loaded into the tray 34, and (C) the envelope cassette 62
to be loaded into the main tray. The printing device 16 then waits for the envelope cassette to be inserted. When the job is finished, a message appears instructing the operator to remove the envelope cassette if it is no longer needed.

A specially designed envelope cassette is shown in FIG.

This cassette is made of stamped and bent metal, with a first series of 9 S's forming a cavity in which the envelopes are placed.
It has three knotweeds 64 to 68. The knotweed 66 is removed from the bottom surface 72 of the cassette by 1. It has a right angle bending part 70 at a distance of Acyn, and has a diameter of approximately 276 mm x approximately 9 mm (Zachoi/
x//inch) or about -76- x about 3! f6 Kasumi (
It is possible to load 5θ envelopes with a weight number of 10 or 0 with the folded pieces facing down into the nuclear power set. Bottom surface 7 of cassette 62
2, instructions are drawn in the form of a schematic diagram of an envelope showing how the envelope should be oriented within the cassette.

Envelope cassette 62 is an insertable accessory to main paper tray 32, and the cassette is inserted into the main paper tray 32 during normal operation of the printing device.
- Envelopes must be inserted into the main paper tray so that they are properly aligned by the same sheet feeder 74 that feeds the sheets. J! The other cassettes 76-79 assist in properly aligning the envelopes against the feeder 74, prevent the cassette from entering the tray 32 incorrectly, and adjust the printing device's envelope printing mode. assists in energizing sensor 60 to initiate.

The cassette is properly installed in the main tray 32 as shown in FIG. In the plan view of FIG. 4, the main paper tray 32 is cut away at the ninth point to show the operation of the cassette sensor 60 in detail. During normal printing (i.e. envelopeless printing), the user:
A stack of paper is inserted into the tray and the position of the paper guide 82 is adjusted by sliding the paper guide 82 along a support rod 84 connected to the paper feed housing.

The user makes the above adjustment by grasping the tab 86 connected to the guide and sliding the guide 82 into contact with the stack of sheets.

A series of installation blocks 94 to 96 (Figure 5)
A series of three switches 88-92 connected to the support rond 84 through the mounts 84 are the operative components of the sensor 60. These three switches are closed by a switch actuator 110 which is connected to the paper guide 82 via blocks 112-114 for the other series 9 attachments. That is, when the guide 82 is moved toward the seat 60, the actuator 110 closes the seventh switch 88, and then the other switches 89-92 in turn. Depending on the size of paper inserted into tray 32, different combinations of switches are closed so that the printing device is informed of the size of paper it is handling.

In the envelope handling mode of operation, cassette 62 is inserted into tray 32. However, in order to do this, the guide 82 must be moved away from the switch by a distance determined by the arm 116 (FIG. 3) that supports the pole 79. The length of arms 1-16 is such that actuator 110 does not close any of switches 88-92 when cassette 62 is in place within tray 32. This condition tells controller 20 that printing device 16 should be operated in envelope printing mode.

In the preferred mode, for proper envelope feeding, the envelopes 117 placed in the cassette 62 must be stock number 15 through 2, and the envelope material is white sulfite woven paper stock. Three examples of suitable commercially available envelopes are Campel White Oude SlOl.
Sub 20 (Campb@ll Whit@Woveφ
10.8ub, -〇), Engineering = Persal White Cuzo φ10,201nd (Universal Wh1
t@Wove +10m θjb, ), and Seven Nchuli White Udena 10. Satsuko O (C@ntury
White Wove φ10.8ub, θ).

Envelope feeding is from the main tray 32 only; each envelope is fed from the third
It exits the cassette along the direction of arrow 120 in the figure.

The user formats the information to be printed.

This is similar to formatting other documents, for example on magnetic storage tape. The user can specify special logotypes, return addresses, mailing addresses and special details to be printed. The user instructs printing on both letters and envelopes using a variable text file, and prints and inserts both at the same time as envelopes sent out from the main tray and letters sent out from the auxiliary tray. You can make it match.

The printing device 16 prints up to SO envelopes (and up to 30 letters, if appropriate) and transfers them to the output tray 41.
and the console or user interface 24 instructs the user that the output tray 41 should be emptied. Letters corresponding to these envelopes are sent to the sorter 40.
The pins are stacked one after the other within the pins. As many sets of letters as possible enter the first sorter pin, and overflow sets of letters are directed to subsequent sorter pins. The sorter bins contain only complete or set letters to facilitate the operator's collation task. Up to 50 sets of letters can be stored in the sorter 40 before the apparatus is shut down for retrieval operations. In the illustrated embodiment, the envelopes are stacked in the output tray, but in other embodiments, the letters and envelopes are interleaved within the sorter 40.

Separate top fees 74 and 7! s (FIG. 1) feeds copy material from the main paper tray 32 and the auxiliary paper tray 34. As the copy material (sheet or envelope) leaves the paper tray, one sensing switch 150 and 151 senses the movement of the copy material and coordinates this movement with the controller 20. Is one paper path consistent?
-) Combine at the installation location of 152. This r-) has a separate sensing switch 153 which indicates to the controller that copy material has arrived at gate 152.

Details regarding the gate are shown in FIGS. 7 and 1. ?
-) 152 has an alignment fin, f154, which swings into and out of the path of the copy material under the control of a solenoid 156 attached to the support member 158 via a mounting bracket 160; do. Solenoid plunger 162 is held in an extended position by compression spring 164 when gate 152 is open.

When the solenoid is energized by the controller 20,
Plunger 162 is moved to the dashed position in the first figure and rotates shaft 164' by rotating arm 166, which is connected to shaft 164' and is connected to plunger 162 by 1/168. In this energized position, the r-) is closed and aligns the Shino material with the photoreceptor for image transfer. By aligning the activation and deenergization of the solenoid with the rotation of the photoreceptor 26 and the movement of the copy sheet, the copy sheet (paper or envelope) is
reaches the transfer station or area 46 in alignment with the image on the photoreceptor 26.

In envelope printing mode, in order to properly transfer and then fuse the xerographic image from photoreceptor 26 to the envelope,
Some modifications to the printing device 16 are required. When printing only on copy sheets, the printing device 16 transfers the xerographic image to a single layer piece of paper, but in envelope printing mode it transfers the image to a two layer material, and in areas consisting of three layers. It will be transferred to the material. To accommodate this thick copy material, transcription: 10 tron 48
The transfer current at fj is increased to a value of about -t microamperes, and the stripping current at stripping corotron 50 is also increased to a value of about /7-=r microamperes. To accommodate this thicker material, the gap between the armpit material and the radial fuser 36 is increased by approximately 5 inches. This increased clearance between the fuser and the paper path only reduces the fusing effectiveness of conventional copy sheets, and allows the printing device 16 to accept thicker envelope materials. Envelope printing also requires some modifications to the transport mechanism for moving the copy material from the poppy feeder or paper feeder 22 to the delivery device 28. A typical paper transport system includes a plurality of vacuum drives, and the paper to be transported is drawn into the paper path by a low pressure source attached to the printing device 16. To attract heavier envelopes, it is necessary to increase the vacuum force and thereby increase the suction between the transport device and the envelopes to ensure reliable transport of the envelopes. If you use envelopes and letter sheets alternately, use envelope xerography.
Use a standard meter. This flow meter allows printing on envelopes without compromising the image transfer and fusing of ordinary copy (letter) sheets.

Envelope 117 is about 12s, lIm (i inch) wider than regular 2/A m (g 1 inch) paper.

Therefore, some areas on the envelope cannot be printed by printing device 16. When printing on envelopes of this width, margins or margins of A, 3rwmC〆 inch) must be left at the top, left side, and bottom of the envelope. Leave a margin of approximately 4 inches on the right side of the envelope. Therefore, when generating the address information and/or logotype to be printed on the envelope, care must be taken to format this information so that it does not appear in these V-zine areas. Formatting within these constraints is ok (
controllable functions of the controller. In particular, formatting for envelopes is generally done by word processing software, so the format is created by the word processing operator and leaves the correct margins for envelope printing.

The envelope printing procedure is summarized in Figure 1. Printing power information may be generated on-line from a computer workstage or off-line using an information storage mechanism such as magnetic tape. In either case, the address information is input to the controller 20, which also receives input from sensor 6o indicating that the device is in envelope printing mode. The control device exemplified by the control device 20 is
Image formation is then automatically controlled using the input data and the modified xerographic printing method in the envelope printing mode.

The present invention has been described in detail above. The xerographic printing device used in the present invention can be modified and/or replaced with a different type of printing mechanism, such as an inkjet printer. The performance criteria for the xerographic printing devices described above may also vary if other printing devices are used in their place. The mechanism for indicating to controller 20 that envelope printing mode has begun may also be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. That is, various modifications and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an information processing station including the xerographic printing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic elevational view of various components of the printing device, and FIG. 3 is an illustration of an envelope to be printed by the printing device. A perspective view of the ninth envelope cassette that it holds; FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the stages of envelope processing when printing on envelopes; FIG. An elevational view of the cassette, FIG. 6, is a plan view showing the series of switches attached to the ten tray and commanding the xerographic control when an envelope cassette is inserted into the main tray. 7 is an elevational view of a solenoid actuated registration finger used to move an envelope into transfer relationship with a xerographic photoreceptor in a printing device, and FIG. 7 is an end view of the registration finger of FIG. . 20......Control device, 22...Paper feeding device, 24...Kneading face, 26.
......Photoreceptor, 28......Sending stage start, 32...
...Main paper tray, 34...Auxiliary paper tray, 36...Fuser, 40...Sorter, 41・・・・・・・・・Delivery tray, 4i・・・・・・Laser, 44・・・・・・Present stage, 46...
・・・・・・Transfer stage staff, 60・・・・・・・・・
・Sensor, 62... Envelope cassette, 74, 75
・・・・・・・・・ Feeder, 88.89,90,
91.92 ...... Switch, 110
......Switch actuator 1116
・・・・・・・・・Arm, 150.151,15
3......Sensing switch, j52...
・・・・・・Consistency? -), 154 ・・・・・・・・・
・The matching fin is 156 ・・・・・・・・・ Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A printing device that processes envelopes by printing an address on an M-tube, comprising means for holding an unprinted envelope, and the holding means is configured to control the printing device. including means for distinguishing the envelope from other material to be printed by the printing device in order to enter an envelope addressing printing mode; further comprising means for electronically storing addressing information; means for converting said electronically stored information into signals for controlling printing of said envelope; and said envelope from said means for holding to a printing station for printing addressing information on said envelope. means for moving the envelopes; and means for printing on the envelopes an address corresponding to the stored information; and means for stacking the envelopes encoded with the address information at a delivery station. 2. The printing means comprises a xerographic reproduction device having means for encoding and developing the charged photoconductive member with information; 8. A printing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising rounding means for bringing the sheet into transfer relationship with the printed photoconductive member.3. means for holding said sheet in mating manner with said address information storage means also generating a printing signal encoding a photoreceptor with information to be printed on said sheet. 4. The copying device is provided with primary and auxiliary paper input trays and further for holding the envelopes prior to xerographic printing of the envelopes. 5. A printing device according to claim 1, comprising an envelope cassette insertable into said main paper tray. 5. Means for processing said envelopes by printing an address on each of said envelopes. In a printing device, means for holding the envelope in an unprinted state; means for sensing the presence of the envelope in the holding means to initiate an envelope printing mode; and electronically storing the address. and means for converting the electronically stored address into a control signal km for printing the envelope address on the envelope. Driving the unprinted envelope to a printing station for encoding with the address information. and means for collecting said printed envelopes after printing. Claim S, further comprising a region for transferring the developed material to the envelope, and further comprising means for substantially permanently fixing the developed material to the envelope. printing device. 7. a photoconductive member and a charging station;
means for moving through the development station and the transfer station V; transport means for moving said copy substrate into transfer relationship with said photoconductive member at said transfer station to form a powder image on said copy substrate; a fusing means for permanently fusing; and a paper tray for supporting individual copy sheets of foam printing having a first uniform thickness. a cassette insertable into said paper tray to hold envelopes to be moved by said transport means to said transfer station for printing; and said printing device responsive to the presence of said cassette in said paper tray. means for entering an envelope printing mode of operation, said envelope printing mode of operation including a f-thickness of transfer; Envelope printing 11 8, characterized in that the transfer station comprises means for applying an image transfer current to the copy substrate; and means for increasing said current when an envelope is to be printed. 9. In a method for seal printing using a xerographic printing device. A step of loading the envelope into the holding tray. sensing the presence of the envelope in the tray; and changing xerography parameters of the printing device to print on the envelope. feeding the envelopes, one at a time, from the holding tray to a xerographic transfer station for printing; stacking the printed envelopes in a delivery tray.